Roman Republic

The Roman Republic was the historical period during which the Roman civilization was governed by a republican government. The republic mode of government started around 509 BCE with the overthrow of the Etruscan kings, and it lasted more 450 years, until 29 BCE, when it gave way to the imperial period. The ideals of the Roman Republic have shaped not only how republicanism has been understood and defined since but also the very structures of culture, including political and judicial organization in the Western world. While classical scholars have long asserted that the Roman Republic evolved over time, other scholars explain that the Romans created a series of distinct republics in a historical continuum from the archaic to the end of the Roman republican era. Nonetheless, the Roman Republic had strong repercussions in political philosophy and ideals worldwide for many centuries to follow.

Brief History

The Roman Republic began when the Romans overthrew their Etruscan overlords around 509 BCE. The Etruscans ruled the Latin tribes in Rome starting in about 619 (though the Etruscans were in central Italy beginning in about 800 BCE). The new Republic lasted for more than 450 years, until, following a period of internal and external wars, it morphed into an empire.

The ancient Romans established a republican system in which citizens elected noblemen to represent them in government. This was not, however, democracy understood as a government system in which all people have a right to participate. Nevertheless, its governmental structure was quite sophisticated, based upon a system of both separation of powers and checks and balances. At its inception, its constitution was a set of guiding principles passed down by precedent. It was not documented in writing, and as such, constantly changing. The changes in the constitution were often fueled by the friction between the patricians, or Roman aristocracy, and the common people, known as the plebeians. Almost since its inception, the republic was dominated by the aristocracy. In time, however, the laws that favored the aristocracy were repealed.

The highest positions in the government were held by two consuls elected by the senate. The highest body of authority was the senate. In order to serve on the senate, a member had to be a man, been born a patrician, own a sizable amount of land, and have previous government experience.

The Roman Republic had an expansionist foreign policy. Between 500 BCE and 300 BCE, for example, it expanded from central Italy, to the entire Mediterranean. In the following century, it expanded further to encompass Greece, the Iberian Peninsula, and parts of North Africa. Toward the end of the Republic, it dominated France and parts of eastern Europe. In this manner, the Roman civilization managed to extend its hegemony over large parts of the Western world and beyond, and the Roman material, cultural, and political structures would survive in the rest of the world long after the Roman Empire was gone.

Overview

There is no consensus among scholars about what, exactly, precipitated the end of the Roman Republican system in order to give way to the Roman Empire. Many scholars argue for a combination of factors, such as the election of Julius Caesar as dictator in 44 BCE, and the Roman senate’s granting extraordinary powers to the consul Octavian—later known as Caesar Augustus—in 27 BCE. In times of crisis, the consuls and the senate could elect a dictator to rule for a short period until the problem was solved. A dictator held absolute decision-making power and control over the military.

At the inception of the Republic, the Roman aristocracy exerted almost complete political control, by way of the consulate and senate. The plebeians had no direct input in the government. Moreover, only men of property could vote. In time, the plebeians gained the right to elect representatives called tribunes, who had the right to veto legislation passed by the senate. Gradually, the plebeians gained more power and were even able to vie for the position of consul. Despite these measures, however, the aristocracy still held a great deal of power over the people and their elected leaders.

Despite the inequality of the government system, the Roman Republic promoted the notion of equality under the law. In 449 BCE, the government wrote the Republic’s main laws onto twelve tablets. These laws became known as the Twelve Tables, and were the first Roman laws documented in writing. These laws guaranteed that all citizens had the right to equal treatment under the law. The Twelve Tables were created to decrease the near constant state of friction between the patrician and plebeian class. With the inception of the Twelve Tables, the citizens of the Roman Republic had a stable, written document of the laws and their rights.

Although expansionist in nature, the Republic allowed conquered people to become allies and even full Roman citizens. Conquered peoples who were granted full citizenship became a part of Rome and enjoyed the same rights as its other citizens, while allied peoples were allowed to maintain self-rule but were required to provide soldiers for the Roman army. Additionally, allied communities were told that, given loyal support of the Roman effort, they could eventually work their way up to full citizenship.

The issue of citizenship, however, was complex and varied greatly throughout time and across classes. Full Roman citizens could vote, marry other free citizens, hold public office, and practice commerce freely. Other citizens, however, were not allowed to vote or hold public office. Some others could practice commerce and vote, but could not hold public office. As the Republic evolved, emancipated former male slaves were granted the right—radical at the time—to become Roman citizens. By 90 BCE, foreign allies of Rome also gained citizenship rights. In 212 CE, by edict of Caracalla, all free people in the Roman Empire could become citizens. After the rise of the Roman Empire, the once prestigious senate gradually became a ceremonial body of mostly politically powerless men.

Bibliography

Bringmann, Klaus. A History of the Roman Republic. Cambridge: Polity, 2007.

Flower, Harriet J. Roman Republics. Princeton: Princeton UP, 2011. Print.

Flower, Harriet J., ed. The Cambridge Companion to the Roman Republic. New York: Cambridge UP, 2004. Print.

Gibbon, Edward. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Vols. 1–6. New York: Everyman’s, 2006. Print.

Gwynn, David. The Roman Republic: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford UP, 2012. Print.

Richardson, J. S. Augustan Rome, 44 BC to AD 14: The Restoration of the Republic and Establishment of the Empire. Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 2012. Print.

Rosenstein, Nathan. Rome and the Mediterranean, 200 to 146 BC. Edinburgh UP, 2012. Print.

Rosenstein, Nathan, and Robert Morstein-Marx, eds. A Companion to the Roman Republic. Hoboken: Wiley, 2010. Print.

Steele, Catherine. The End of the Roman Republic, 146 to 44 BC: Conquest and Crisis. Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 2013. Print.